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In 1900, as the first metro rolled from west to east across Paris, from Porte Maillot to Porte de Vincennes, photography had already been around for half a century. Turnofthe- century technological advances had created smaller, lighter cameras–the first Kodaks–which introduced the practice to a wider market. As Parisians fell in love with their new mode of transport, photography became a more widespread pastime.

All genres and photographic practices are represented in this overview, from photojournalism to photo stories, street photography, fashion photography, architectural photography and industrial photography. The major figures of photography all snapped the Paris metro from the humanists – Doisneau, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Brassaï, Boubat, Izis, Kollar, Ronis, and more – to photojournalists such as Robert Capa, William Klein, and van der Keuken, not forgetting the scores of great international photographers who have passed through Paris. This ambitious work is a magnificent and charming hybrid: a history of the fascinating development of the Paris metro–long a cultural symbol of France, Art Nouveau and urban technological innovation–in all its diversity, alongside a history of photography in Paris from the early 20th century to the present day.